December 17th Update

Hi! It's me JoAnna. I cannot believe it has almost been a month since my last blog. Since then we had a very nice Thanksgiving. This year for the first time ever, we didn't eat our lunch at Grandma Phoebe's. She had lunch with Uncle Jimmy and Aunt Lois, so we had our lunch at mom's house with Joy and John's families. Christian deep fried a turkey and it was yummers. Everyone else brought side dishes that made for a very delicious Thanksgiving. Luke enjoyed being with his cousins, as did Carman. Carman enjoyed her yummy jar of apples and bananas. Then on Thanksgiving night we had Joy and John's families over to our house for an oyster roast. Our neighbor, Don came over as well. Once again another delicious meal. Needless to say, we ate too much.
So now we are busy preparing for the upcoming Christmas holiday. I told Luke that Christmas was coming and he quickly ran to the window and looked out asking, "Where is it, Mommy?". He is definitely into Christmas this year. He is constantly singing Jingle Bells, Frosty the Snowman or Santa Claus is coming to town. He isn't too picky about where he does it either, in the car, in the store, in the middle of church. He is a equal opportunity singer! When we ask him what he wants for Christmas, we get new things all the time (with the exception of the consistent request for Thomas). He has mentioned Mickey Mouse, Buzz, Woody, Power Rangers, etc. He also enjoyed decorating the tree. It was obvious where Luke had put ornaments on the tree. They were all in the same spot. Luke continues to test us. His new test is talking back, which drives me crazy and he knows exactly how to push my buttons. Hopefully this phase will end soon. He also continues to struggle with pooing in the potty. I don't know what to do about that. Nonetheless, Luke is a good boy and is very much looking forward to Christmas.
Carman continues to be such a pleasure to have around. She makes me laugh how she likes to kick her feet when she gets excited these days, which usually is the result of watching her brother do something that she wants to do. She loves watching Luke so much. They are both very loving towards each other and are a joy to watch. Carman still has not gotten a tooth and has not started to crawl. She moves all over the floor but doesn't crawl. This of course is not bad news to me, b/c I don't want to have 2 to chase. She doesn't have a clue about the Christmas holiday but enjoys the lights. I enjoy shopping for her. Girls are fun!!
Christian and I recently had the opportunity to go to a Duke basketball game in Cameron Indoor Stadium. It was awesome. They played George Mason and won. It was so much fun and the students were a lot of fun to watch as well. We will have pictures of that up as soon as I get them developed (we forgot the digital camera). Alan and Sharon watched the kids for us that weekend so Christian and I felt like we were on a vacation. We spent the night in Durham and did some Christmas shopping. It was a very enjoyable weekend.
Presently our entire family is fighting this nasty cold bug that is going around. Poor Carman has an ear infection in both ears. Luke has the nasty cough/cold. Christian has a sinus infection. I have a minor cough/cold. Hopefully we will all be well by Christmas. We anxiously await the holidays and all that it has to bring.